Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Pittsburgh Steelers (0-3) and Carolina Panthers (2-1) close out their respective preseasons in a clash against each other at Bank of America Stadium in Carolina. The game can be live streamed here. Steelers fans can hear the hard-hitting action on WDVE (102.5 FM) while Panthers fans can do the same at WBT (1110 AM)
The Steelers are on the hunt for the team's first preseason victory after dropping its third straight decision to the Kansas City Chiefs on the road last Saturday at Heinz Field, while the Panthers are looking to extend their exhibition winning streak to two games after handing last year's Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens a 34-27 loss in Week 3.
With this being the final preseason game, it's doubtful the starters will be in long--if at all. Both teams will be looking ahead to their respective regular-season openers. The Steelers open up at home Sept. 8 against the Tennessee Titans while the Panthers will host the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1. The Steelers are looking to put a rare playoff absence behind them, and build on a sub-par 8-8 finish from last season where Pittsburgh missed the postseason for the first time since 2006. The Panthers were an even worse 7-9 last year, missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
The main key for the Steelers is bringing an offense that struggled in 2012 back to form. Outside of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the offense for the black and yellow will look pretty different this year. Wide receiver Mike Wallace has departed for the Miami Dolphins while running back Rashard Mendenhall left Pittsburgh in favor of the Arizona Cardinals, leaving the Steelers to plug holes in the lineup.
The Steelers will turn to Le'Veon Bell and Jonathan Dwyer at running back and attempt to have Emmanuel Sanders fill the voice at wide-out.
Roethlisberger played in just 13 games last season, going 284-for-449 for 3,265 yards with 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
The Steelers have a nice mix of youth and veteran leadership as even though there are six starters with at-least 10 years of NFL experience, there are also six starters who are third-year pros or less.
Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers will look to third-year quarterback Cam Newton to try and turn around the offense which has struggled throughout the preseason and is coming off of a disappointing 2012.
Newton has been more subdued this time around, tucking away any Super Bowl proclamations after being highly critical of himself for the way he performed last year
Newton went 280-for-485 in his second NFL season last year, throwing for 3,869 yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while rushing for 741 yards on 127 attempts and mounting eight touchdowns, and leading his team to a record that was two games under .500. One thing that has troubled the Panthers is the offensive line, which head coach Ron Rivera is hoping to work out before Week 1.
Newton recently spoke with USA Today Sports about the battles he's been going through over the first two years of his career.
"Things that affected you when you were younger really don't affect you the same way the next time they come around," Newton told USA TODAY Sports. "The next time, it's smoother. It's like, 'I can't go through this the same way I did it before,' or it's really going to be a battle with myself."
The Panthers enter the final tune-up game hoping that Newton's growing pains are over and he'll be able to lead them to more success while the Steelers look to gain some positive momentum heading into a season that is one year removed from the team looking like a shell of its former self.
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